Men Take Second, Women Third at Metropolitan Indoor Championships

STATEN ISLAND, NY – After beginning in earnest with the multi-event competitions at Draddy Gymnasium on Thursday, the Metropolitan Indoor Track & Field Championships concluded on Friday at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex.  Led by three event winners, the Manhattan College men's team placed second overall.  The Jasper women also earned three event victories en route to a third-place team finish.

Stefan Hoeller (Bergisch Gladbach, Germany), who entered the day in third place, defended his Metropolitan title in the heptathlon.  Trailing by 200 points after four events, he moved into the lead by clearing 4.45 meters (14 feet, seven inches) in the pole vault (which would've taken second in the open pole vault).  Hoeller then cemented the victory with a 2:47.21 clocking in the 1000 meters.  His total score was 4919 points.

Blerim Pocesta (Staten Island, NY) contributed 15 team points in the throws.  He finished first in the weight throw (19.75 m, 64'9¾) and placed fourth in the shot put (14.80 m, 48'6¾).  Ire Bozovicar (Potoki, Slovenia) was fourth in the weight throw, qualifying for the IC4A Championships with a mark of 17.25 m (56'7¼).  Bobby Gebhard (Saddle River, NJ) finished second in the triple jump (14.80 m, 48'6¾), while Hayden Clarke (Townsville, Australia) placed fourth in both the long jump (7.10 m, 23'3½) and triple jump (13.76 m, 45'1¾).

On the track, Will Stallings (Sleepy Hollow, NY) qualified for the IC4A Championships in both the 200 meters and 400 meters.  He placed second in the 200 (22.11) and third in the 400 (48.62).  Stallings also anchored the 4x400 meter relay squad to second place and an IC4A-qualifying time of 3:18.82.  Tom Diliberto (Massapequa Park, NY) also achieved the IC4A qualifier in the mile, winning the event in 4:14.28.  John Dove (Monroe, NY) took third in the mile with a 4:15.22 clocking.

In addition, Justin Alleyne (New Rochelle, NY) placed third in the 500 meters, just missing the IC4A qualifier with a time of 1:05.75, Tom Bonaro (Pearl River, NY) grabbed fourth place in the 800 meters (1:55.04), and Amir Khaghani (Bethesda, MD) finished fourth in the 3000 meters with an 8:41.09 clocking.

With 145.5 total points, Manhattan finished second in the team standings behind Rutgers (183.5).  The Jaspers, who were second for the second consecutive year, have now earned a top-three placing 13 straight times.

The women's team started the day with 10 points thanks to Charlene Pohl's (Bisingen, Germany) victory in the pentathlon on Thursday.  Manhattan then gained 21 more in the pole vault, as all four Jaspers in the event scored.  Marisa Robbins (Goshen, NY) earned the win with a clearance of 3.75 m (12'3½), while Breanna Brucher (Glen Spey, NY) was third (3.30 m, 10'10) and Maddesen Weekes (Clifton Park, NY) tied for fourth (3.15 m, 10'4).  Maddie Arndt (Merrimack, MA), meanwhile, finished in a tie for seventh with a mark of 3.00 m (9'10). 

Ellinor Persson (Taby, Sweden) finished fourth in the triple jump with a leap of 11.12 m (36'5¾).  She also took eighth in the long jump (5.15 m, 16'10¾).

Lisa Fajardo (Brooklyn, NY) was the women's team's other event winner.  She ran a personal-best time of 10:03.04 in the 3000 meters.  Alexa Roda (Staten Island, NY), meanwhile qualified for the ECAC Championships in the 1000.  She finished fourth in 2:55.31.  Lorraine Brancale (Staten Island, NY) captured second place in the 5000 meters with an 18:02.95 clocking, while Erin Spadaccini (Wilmington, DE) ran the mile for the first time as a collegian and took third in 5:04.73.

Other top performers for the women's squad included Kaitlyn Smith (Effort, PA) in the 800 (sixth, 2:18.61) and Jasmine Davis (Ronkonkoma, NY) in the 200 (seventh, 25.33).  The Jaspers also finished third in both the 4x800 meter and distance medley relays. 

As a team, Manhattan placed third, its highest showing since 2011.  The Jaspers earned 90 points.  Rutgers was the women's team champion with a score of 217.